Method of making knitting needles

ABSTRACT

A needle blank is continuously moved in the direction of the longitudinal axis thereof, and the blank is subjected, while it is being thus moved, to plastic deformation in two mutually perpendicular planes with the help of compressing members having circumferentially extending grooves in the peripheries thereof and which members rotate in opposite directions so that the grooves close upon the blank alternately in the perpendicular planes.

United States Patent [1 1 Afanasiev et al.

[ Sept. 9, 1975 METHOD OF MAKING KNITTING NEEDLES [76] lnventors: Alexandr Dmitrievich Afanasiev,

ulitsa Kubinka, 6; Alexei Gavrilovich Lykov, ulitsa Kubinka, 12, korpus 4, kv.30; Alexandr Moiseevich Mogilevsky, ulitsa Yablochkova, 41, kv. 27; Leonid Pavlovich Sokolov, ulitsa Slavyansky bulvar, 51/1, kv.174; Evl Gershkovich Fridman, ulitsa Kubinka, 6, kv. 20; Fedor Matveevich Dergachev, ulitsa akademika pavlova, 21, kv. 77, all of Moscow, U.S.S.R.

[22] Filed: Apr. 2, 1974 [2]] Appl. No.: 457,543

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Scr. No. 237,190, March 22, 1972,

abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl. 264/153; 264/294; 264/320 [51] Int. Cl. B296 17/00 [58] Field of Search 264/153, 294, 297, 320,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,610,295 12/1926 Latham 264/294 1,696,484 12/1928 Hofmann. et a1 163/2 2,134,930 1 1/1938 Reynolds 264/294 2,396,412 3/1946 Donisthorpe 163/2 Primary Examiner-Robert F. White Assistant ExaminerT. E. Balhoff Attorney, Agent, or FirmHolman & Stern 5 7 ABSTRACT A needle blank is continuously moved in the direction of the longitudinal axis thereof, and the blank is subjected, while it is being thus moved, to plastic deformation in two mutually perpendicular planes with the help of compressing members having circumferentially extending grooves in the peripheries thereof and which members rotate in opposite directions so that the grooves close upon the blank alternately in the perpendicular planes.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEB SE? 9 SHEET 1 BF 2 METHOD OF MAKING KNITTING NEEDLES This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 237,190, filed Mar. 22, 1972 now abandonedv BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the manufacture of knitting needles, and, more particularly, to methods of making knitting needles which are oval-shaped in cross-section.

The present invention can be employed to the utmost advantage in the production of latch needles for automatic flat knitting machines, as well for other types of needles, when the process of manufacture of such needles involves the operations of treating the body of the needle in order to render it oval-shaped in cross section.

PRIOR ART There are known methods of making knitting needles oval-shaped in cross-section by punching out a needle blank from sheet stock and subsequently subjecting such needle blank to repeated plastic deformation with the help of appropriate tools (see, for example, the USSR Authorss Certificate No. 21,105; Class 7e, 2). According to the last-mentioned known method, a punched-out needle blank is first reduced to a corresponding size in a rotary forging machine, by introducing the blank into a conical gap between two striking members freely received in the respective slots of the spindle of the machine, with the striking members being actuated by a plurality of rollers positioned circumferentially in a stationary carrier; then, after the blank has acquired a round shape in cross-section, it is flattened in a press.

Both above-described operations, i.e. reduction and flattening, are characterized by comparatively low productivity; moreover, the necessity of performing auxiliary handling operations brings the productivity of the above known method even lower.

In addition the above reducing operation practically inadvertently results in the dimensions of the needles being unstable, i.e. it would not ensure that the height of the needle body in cross-section is adequately accurate and uniform, which fact adversely affects the performance of the needles in knitting machines.

Finally, the round crosssection of needles, obtained by the reducing operation and having the diameter that is greater than the thickness of the punched-out blank, displays a tendency to unwind in the course of the flattening operation, with formation of wrinkles.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-described drawbacks.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of making knitting needles oval-shaped in cross-section, which provides for high-quality treat ment of the needle blanks.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a method characterized by increased productivity, due to the improved operations of subjecting the needle blank to plastic deformation and also due to the fact that the processing is performed directly in the course of forwarding of the needle blank.

These and other objects are attained in a method of making knitting needles oval-shaped in crosssection by punching out a needle blank from sheet stock and subsequently subjecting said needle blank to repeated plastic deformation with the help of appropriate tools, in which method, in accordance with the present invention, said punched-out blank is continuously moved in the direction of the longitudinal axis thereof, with said plastic deformation being performed, while said needle blank is thus moved, successively in two mutually perpendicular planes with the help of compressing members having grooves extending circumferentially in the respective peripheries of said members, and said compressing members being disposed to the opposite sides of said blank and being rotated in opposite directions so that said grooves of said members close upon said blank alternately in said mutually perpendicular planes.

Continuous movement of the blank in the direction of the longitudinal axis thereof provides for maintaining a permanent base support surface for the blank, which results in an improved quality of the processing of the blank and provides for uniformity of the dimensions of the needles produced.

Furthermore, the operation of compressing the blanks in the grooves of continuously rotating compressing members is a highly productive operation, as compared with the previously practiced reduction and flattening; moreover, auxiliary handling operations are no longer needed.

It is advisable that the plastic: deformation of the needle blank in the two mutually perpendicular planes should be performed with the help of pairs of segments rotated in opposite directions, with the segments of each such pair being disposed to the opposite sides of said blank, said segments having grooves extending circumferentially in the respective peripheries thereof, aid said grooves being shaped to receive therein said blanks.

The employment of the pairs. of segments simplifies the construction and operation of a machine performing the herein disclosed method, because the employement of compressing members of a different shape, e.g.

circular ones, would involve additional operations of alternatingly spreading the members and bringing them together, to ensure the passage of the depending feet of the knitting needles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, with reference being had to the accompanying set of drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates the needle blank clamping operation;

FIG. 2 shows the drive mechanism for the apparatus adapted to perform an operation in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the relative positions of a needle and of the compressing segments, with the compressing operation being performed in a. vertical plane;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, with compressing operation being performed in a horizontal plane; and

FIG. 5 illustrates the operations of delivering a fin ished needle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT Knitting needles which are oval-shaped in crosssection are produced in the following manner.

A needle blank 1 FIG. 1 that has been previously punched out of appropriate stock is fed from ahopper 2 into clamping jaws 3 supported by a conveyor 4 so that the needle-engaging contact surfaces of the respective jaws extend parallel to the direction of movement of the needle along the longitudinal axis thereof; with a contact surface thus provide a permanent base support surface for the needle blank, the needle blank being held by the depending foot portion 5 thereof and being positively retained by the clamping jaws throughout the subsequent processing.

The clamping jaws are depicted in detail in the copending application previously filed in the name of the same inventors.

The conveyor 4 (FIG. 2) is continously driven by an electric motor 6 by means of a driving belt 7, a worm gear couple 8, a drive shaft 9, a bevel gear couple 10 and a shaft 11.

The blank 1 is held by its foot 5 by the clamping jaws 3 and forwarded toward the station of which it is to be pre-compressed in a vertical plane. The precompressing operation is performed by a pair of cooperating pre-compressing segments 12 and 13 mounted on the opposite sides of the blank 1 for rotation together with horizontal shafts 14 and 15 (FIG. 3), respectively, the shafts being rotated in opposite directions through respective gears 16 and 17 and a bevel gear couple 18 from the drive shaft 9. The segments 12 and 13 have grooves 19 and 20, respectively, Provided along the peripheries thereof, with each groove having a width which is slightly in excess of the width of the blank, the depth of the groove being less than one half of the height of the body of the blank. The segments 12 and 13 are secured on their respective shafts 14 and 15 so that the grooves thereof should close upon a blank carried by the conveyor 4 immediately after the foot 5 of the blank, held by the jaws 3, has passed the engagement zone'of the segments; the length of the working portion of each groove corresponds to the length of that portion of the body of the blank, which is to be worked upon by the grooves. The speed of the progress of the blank-carrying conveyor 4 is equal to the linear speed of the peripheries of the rotating segments. After having been pre-compressed in the grooves of the segments l2 and 13, the needle blank 1 acquires a crosssectional shapes illustrated in position a of FIG. 2.

Afterpre-compression in the vertical plane in the grooves of the segments 12 and 13, the needle blank 1 is forwarded to the station at which it is to be precompressed in a horizontal plane. The pre-compression is performed by pre-compression segments 21 and 22 (FIGS. 2 and 4) mounted to the opposite sides of the blanks for rotation together with vertical shafts 23 and 24, respectively, with the shafts being rotated in opposite directions through the respective ones of gears 25, 26, 27, 28 and a bevel gear couple 29 from the drive shaft 9. The segments 21 and 22 have grooves 30 and 31 provided cir'cumferentially in the respective peripheries thereof, with the width of each groove being in excess of the height of the body of the blankfthat has been pro-compressed in the grooves of the segments 12 and 13, but slightly less than the height of the body of a blank punched out originally from the stock; the depth of each groove is equal to one half of the thick ness of the body of a punched-out blank, with the corners of the grooves being rounded.

The positioning of the segments 21 and 22 on their respective shafts 23 and 24 is similar to that described hereinabove in connection with the segments 12 and 13. After having been pre-compressed in the grooves of the segments 21 and 22, the needle blank 1 acquires a crosssectional shape as illustrated in position b of FIG. 2.

After the pre-compression in the horizontal plane in the grooves of the segments 21 and 22, the needle blank 1 is forwarded to the station at which it is to be finally compressed in a vertical plane in the grooves of the segments 32 and 33. The operation is similar to the above-described operation of pre-compression of the blank in the vertical plane, but the grooves of the segments 32 and 33 have rounded corners. After having been subjected to this final vertical compression, the needle blank 1 acquires a crosssectional shape as illustrated in position 0 of FIG. 2.

Following the operation of final compression in the vertical plane in the grooves of the segments 32 and 33, the needle blank 1 is forwarded to the station at which it is to be finally compressed in a horizontal plane in the grooves of segments 34 and 35. This final horizontal compression is performed similarly to the abovedescribed operation of pre-compression in the horizontal plane, but the depth of the grooves of the segments 34 and 35 is equal to one half of the thickness of the originally punched-out blank, and the width of each said groove is equal to the required height of the body of the finished knitting needle, with the corners of the grooves being rounded to correspond to the required radii of curvature of the respective corners of the body of a finished needle. In the course of this operation, the needle blank 1 acquires a cross-sectional shape as illustrated in position d of FIG. 2, i.e. the required crosssectional shape of the body of a finished knitting needle.

The cross-sectional area of a finished needle 36 is somewhat less than the cross-sectional area of the originally punched-out needle blank 1, which fact is due to a slight elongation of the blank at each successive compression stage.

In the embodiment of the present invention described herein-above, a needle blank is compressed twice in a vertical plane and twice in a horizontal plane; however, depending on the actual size of the needle body, in certain cases it might be necessary to perform three or even more compressions in each of the planes.

After the operation of final compression in the horizontal plane in the grooves of the segments 34 and 35, the finished needle 36 is delivered by the jaws 3 into a delivery screw conveyor 37 (FIG. 5) driven from the drive shaft 9 (FIG. 2) through the bevel gear couple l0 and gears 36, 39 and 40.

What is claimed is:

l. A method of making knitting needles which are oval-shaped in cross section, comprising the steps of: punching out a needle blank from a sheet stock; continuously moving said punched-out blank in the direction of the longitudinal axis; subjecting said needle blank, while it is being continuously moved to plastic deformation performed successively in two mutually perpendicular planes by compressing members having correspondingly shaped grooves in the perpheries thereof on the opposite sides of said blank and rotating said members in opposite directions so that said grooves thereof close upon said blank alternatively in said mutually perpendicular planes, in which said plastic deformation of ments having grooves extending circumferentially in said needle blank in said mutually perpendicular planes is performed by pairs of segments rotated in opposite directions, with said segments of each pair being disposed on the opposite sides of said blank, and said seg- 5 the respective peripheries thereof, said grooves being adapted to receive therein said blank. 

